Chapter 28: An Ominous Foreboding

“Okay, okay! I’ll talk, I already said I’ll talk, so j-just don’t hurt me anymo-AARGH!”

In the middle of his ramblings, Theo applied more pressure to his foot. The sound of something cracking echoed through the air, but Theo did not pay it any attention.

He tilted his head and ‘looked’ down at the sickly youth pinned beneath the ball of his foot. In a cold muffled voice, he uttered one word, “Speak.”

The youth whimpered, furiously nodding his head. He tried to reach for his broken hand, but every time he so much as moved, Theo would press harder. In the end, the youth could only grit through the pain and explain his side of the story.

In short, Theo misunderstood the original situation.

These two sickly students weren’t being bullied or extorted out of their money by the thugs. No, in fact, they were junkies. The sickly students were regular customers, and often came to this part of the building in order to buy drugs. The burly students currently sprawled on the floor were their dealers.

The thugs were originally part of a gang called the Pit Cobras. Theo wasn’t really familiar with that name, but judging by the way the junkie described it, there was a high possibility that some of the guys that he recently beat up were a part of the Pit Cobras, or at least associated with them.

The Pit Cobras were an insidious bunch. They weren’t just students playing mafia. No, the Pit Cobras were an honest-to-god gang with groups all across the city. A few months ago, they were limited to Central district, but as of late, they’ve begun encroaching on the surrounding areas. In fact, most of the turmoil and chaos currently happening all around him were a result of the gang’s ‘invasion’.

One of the most detestable parts about this gang was the fact that they heavily targeted middle schools and high schools. They corrupted the youth and recruited young, impressionable students into their ranks. Recently, they even mustered up the nerve to openly sell drugs on campus. That sort of audacity was only possible because of how deeply they had the board in their pockets.

It wasn’t just the school board too. If what this junkie said was reliable, then a portion of the local district police was in on it too. Just the thought of that brought a frown to Theo’s lips.

As for the drugs, the yellow powder in the baggy was a substance known on the streets as Devil’s Spice. Apparently, it was something that the Pit Cobras got from overseas. The junkie tried to downplay its affects, stating how it wasn’t all that addictive, and it only gave its users a mild high, but Theo did not believe it. Just from the junkie’s current state alone, he knew just how destructive this drug really was.

At the very least, it was a highly addictive substance.

The Pit Cobra’s usual mode of operation was to get unsuspecting students hooked on the drug first by offering them at a low price. After a couple of ‘freebies’, they would then jack up the price. It wasn’t really extortion, but it might as well have been. Those that could afford it had to pay exorbitant prices, while those that can’t were given one alternative; join the gang. According to the junkie, even a few teachers were caught with this method.

It was a seriously bad epidemic that was currently destroying Valery Heights from the inside out.

The two gangsters from before were following protocol. After selling the drug at a cost, they suddenly jacked up the price, which resulted in the junkies resisting. After that, Theo misunderstood the situation and as a result, he needlessly butted in.

After silently listening to the junkie’s explanation, Theo’s expression grew somber.

He realized the severity of the situation. At first, he had assumed that Shirley’s original worries were exaggerated. He thought that it was simply just a case of unruly delinquents running amok in the neighborhood. As someone with his level of experience, he didn’t really put any of the recent events to mind, but after this incident, he was forced to rethink his mindset.

Drug deals during class hours and corruption within the faculty… the situation was already quite dire. Even back on Mistelhan, cases like this rarely happened. Bandits and the like were always limited in scope. The powers that may be able to pull this off were at the level of criminal syndicates. Of course, the circumstances between Mistelhan and Plume were vastly different. Theo did not think that the Pit Cobras were anything like the overseas criminal empires that he so often heard about on the news.

Still, even if the scale of the Pit Cobras operations were miniscule in comparison, the damage that they could do on a small scale was already too much in Theo’s opinion. It may have been fine if it was happening somewhere else, but this sort of thing was happening near his home and around his loved ones.

As he sank into thought, the anguished screams wrenched him back into reality. He looked down. The junkie was a slobbering mess. Tears and mucus ran down his face. Theo had not noticed, but the more he thought about the situation, the harder he pressed down with his foot.

In the end, Theo was subconsciously grindings the ball of his foot even deeper into the junkie’s broken hand. Seeing the dude’s pained expression, Theo felt some remorse, but not much. In a sense, this guy was a victim, but he couldn’t really bring himself to feel any sort of lasting sympathy for these types of people. After all, even if the thugs supplied the drugs, he was still the one responsible for taking them.

“I-I-I told— ARGH— I told you already, s-so, please let me g—AAARGH!”

After considering his words, Theo eventually lifted his foot.

The junkie breathed out a quivering sigh, before he carefully caressed his broken hand. He looked fearfully at Theo, his eyes occasionally darting towards the hallway. Even without seeing it for himself, the junkie’s intentions were obvious.

Theo leisurely picked up the yellow baggy off the floor and carefully played with it. As he was doing so, the junkie suddenly bolted down the hall. Theo did not mind. In fact, he expected for such a thing to happen. Before the junkie could get any further, a broomstick suddenly came flying towards him.

It hit him in the back of his neck. The sickly youth immediately lost consciousness and crumpled to the floor.

Theo’s actions were cold and swift. The metal broom clattered to the floor, just as he shook his head and turned around. Theo casually tossed the yellow baggy out of an open window. It landed somewhere in the bushes.

He removed the helmet from his head and breathed out a sigh of relief. Sweat accumulated on his forehead. The interior of that metal bucket was surprisingly humid. He tossed the bucket aside and briefly scanned the surroundings.

Four unconscious bodies, all spread out evenly across the hallway.

Right now, his head was plagued by a myriad of thoughts. Things had already progressed to such an extent. Should he but in and take matters into his own hands or should he just continue doing what he’s already been doing?

It was the difference between preventative action and reactionary action.

His current attitude was more aligned with the latter; Theo only acted when the bad and ugly reared its head in his direction. If he saw someone being harassed directly in front of him, then he would act, but he wasn’t willing to go out of his way and help with disaster relief at a place nearly half a city away. On Mistelhan, he was different. As a hero, he had to act even before the bad guys knew what they were even plotting. It was the only way to save the maximum amount of lives.

Was Theo really willing to once again take up the mantle of hero?

He let out a sigh.

Right now, he felt unimaginably tired. He left behind many things on the other world. He had thought that the baggage that comes with being the hero was one of those things. In actuality, it never left. Plume had simply repackaged it and disguised it as something different.

After thinking for a while, he shook his head. In the end, he decided to postpone his decision. He wasn’t the hero from Mistelhan anymore. Whether he was prepared to walk down that path again… well, that was just a question better left for the future him to answer.

He had more important things to worry about, like his date tomorrow with Shirley.

Aside from that, he couldn’t help but bitterly groan.

Ah, why does it feel like everytime I go to school, I end up meeting up with a delinquent? He looked back on the unconscious bodies on the floor. And what the hell kind of private school is this? I just beat up a few kids in the middle of a hallway, yet no one is here to stop me. This place really has fallen pretty low.

Theo shook his head. He briefly wondered whether he should just leave these guys here like that, but first, he decided to return to the clubroom and check up on Mary.

Just as he was about to head back, he suddenly saw her. Mary walked out of the clubroom with the same unfocused gaze in her eyes.

Theo stopped for a moment.

“So, you alright?” He eventually asked. “hope I didn’t scare you too much with all this.” He unenthusiastically waved towards his surroundings.

Mary briefly looked at the surroundings. For a split second, he caught the slight twitch in her left eye.

“…”

Still, she did not respond, which was to be expected.

Theo bitterly smiled. He stared at this blank-faced girl with a helpless expression on his face. How was he supposed to interact with this girl? Mao Lin stressed earlier this week that as fellow club members, they should all try to get along and befriend one another. Unfortunately, even after a week, he felt as if he still hasn’t made any progress with this girl.

He habitually scratched the back of his head. Just as he was wondering what to say next, Mary spoke to him for the very first time.

“Thank you…”

Her words were short, while her voice was flat. It was spoken in a soft, almost whisper-like tone, but with Theo’s senses, he had heard it loud and clear. Before he could appreciate the moment any longer, her next words hit him like a bucket of cold water.

“… but I don’t need your help.”

Without explaining any further, she pulled on the straps of her backpack, raised her head proudly in the air, and walked away. Theo blankly watched her go. Just as she was about to turn the corner, Mary looked back at him one last time. Her eyes narrowed. “Next time, don’t do anything unnecessary.”

“Ah, um… right.” Theo dumbly responded, but his words were met with nothing but the sound of receding footsteps.

After a few a while, he weekly chuckled. “Ahh… it really was a thankless job.” He breathed out a heavy sigh. Today, he learned a valuable lesson; helping a beauty wasn’t the sure-fire way to pick up chicks that it had been originally advertised as.

“Still, that girl’s a lot more perceptive than I first assumed.” He muttered to himself, a hint of a smile etched onto his lips. Even without him saying anything to her, she had figured out almost immediately that the reason why he confronted those guys was all because of her. The thank you was an acknowledgement of his efforts, even if she retroactively receded it a few seconds later.

After she left, Theo directed his gaze to the ground. In the end, it was back to the same question; what should he do about these unconscious fellows?